Campaigners and authorities warn that Egdon's plans to drill through the Flamborough Chalk aquifer near Foxholes could pose a pollution risk to drinking water supplies across East Yorkshire. Egdon says the aquifer would be screened and that it will not use fracking or a proppant squeeze. Yorkshire Water has called the aquifer 'highly vulnerable' and requested further technical details, while the Environment Agency is assessing an environmental permit application. The planning application is due before council planners later in the autumn.
Campaigners Warn Gas Drilling Plan Could Threaten Yorkshire Drinking Water
Drawing a Line in the Chalk campaigners Michael Ellis (left) and Laura Bell [BBC/RICHARD EDWARDS]
Campaigners, local councillors and water company officials have raised strong objections to plans by energy firm Egdon to drill an exploratory gas well through the Flamborough Chalk aquifer near Foxholes in North Yorkshire. They say the chalk—an important source of drinking water for much of East Yorkshire—is vulnerable to contamination from surface activities at the proposed Weaverthorpe site.
Energy firm Egdon wants to search for gas under part of these fields - campaigners are warning the plan risks polluting drinking water [BBC/RICHARD EDWARDS]
Egdon insists the operation would be carried out safely and stressed in its planning submission that the work is not high-volume hydraulic fracturing and will not involve a proppant squeeze. The company says the aquifer would be screened off during the initial drilling phase when risk is greatest and that regulators review its plans before drilling begins.
Campaigners against the drilling plan have placed signs in Foxholes village [BBC/RICHARD EDWARDS]
"Egdon are relying on the chances of something happening being so small. There isn't an explanation of what would happen if it did go wrong," said Laura Bell of campaign group Drawing a Line in the Chalk.
Yorkshire Water has formally described the Flamborough Chalk as 'highly vulnerable' and, in a consultee letter published on North Yorkshire Council's planning portal, has requested additional technical details. These include detailed drainage design and maintenance plans, the provision and monitoring of observation boreholes, robust decommissioning arrangements, and secure storage proposals for fuel and foul waste.
An anti-drilling campaign poster, on display in Foxholes Village Hall [BBC/RICHARD EDWARDS]
The Environment Agency has confirmed the Flamborough Chalk is a principal aquifer that provides strategically important supplies and supports river flows. The EA says it has received an environmental permit application from Egdon for proposed activities at the Weaverthorpe site and is assessing it alongside consultation responses.
Local residents and parish councillors also fear potential impacts on nearby watercourses, notably the Gypsey Race—the most northerly chalk stream in Europe—closest to the proposed site. Some community members point out that any gas produced would be sold on global markets, so local households are unlikely to see a reduction in energy bills, and several nearby villages are not connected to the gas grid.
Egdon's managing director, Mark Abbott, described drilling through chalk aquifers as a long-established practice and said regulators including the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and local water authorities scrutinise the plans. The company's planning application for the Weaverthorpe well site is expected to be considered by council planners later in the autumn.
Next steps: North Yorkshire Council planners will review the application; the Environment Agency will decide on the environmental permit; and Yorkshire Water and other consultees may request further mitigation measures or safeguards before any permission is granted.
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